1. Field of the Invention
Illustrative aspects of the present invention relate to an image reader capable of reading images of a document placed in a still state and a document being fed automatically.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image reader, a static-document reading function is a function of reading an image on a document placed in a still state on a document reading plate such as a static-document reading plate, while a moving-document reading function is a function of reading an image on a document fed by an automatic document feeding mechanism to a document reading plate such as a moving-document reading plate (see J-P-A-10-56541) (hereinafter referred to as patent document 1).
Further, the automatic document feeding mechanism is constituted of a sheet passing opening (sheet feeding opening) which is formed on one side of both sides sandwiching a portion which faces the moving-document reading plate, a sheet passing opening (sheet discharging opening) which is formed on another side, and conveying rollers which convey the document and the like. Here, the sheet passing opening (sheet feeding opening) which is formed on one side is communicated with a sheet feeding tray side and the sheet passing opening (sheet discharging opening) which is formed on another side is communicated with a document discharging tray.
In the image reader described in the patent document 1, a static-document reading part for reading the image of the static document by the static-document reading function and a moving-document reading part for reading the image of the document by the moving-document reading function are separately arranged in parallel to each other thus achieving both of the static-document reading function and the moving-document reading function simultaneously.